ChrisOliver

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Average (1804610) gained 408.58 points, or 2.8%, to end at 14,879.34, booking its first weekly gain in six weeks. The more-inclusive Topix, which tracks common stock listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, ended 3.3% higher at 1,534.71, its biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly 4 years.

South Korea's Composite Index, or Kopsi, gained 3.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 2.6% to end at 15,842.65. The China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, added 5%. For business news in Chinese, see Chinese.WSJ.com.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index ended up 5.5%, the top gainer in the region. India's 30-issue Sensitive Index, which tracks shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange, was up 4.4% in late trading on Friday.

"The bad news was already factored into the market," said Hirokaza Yuihama, regional head of strategy for the Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong. "The downtrend [experienced over the past six weeks] is just a one-time correction, not the start of a bear market because economic fundamentals are still solid."

Yuihama said investors, having already priced in a tougher inflation outlook, were cheered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Thursday in Chicago, where he said inflation expectations had softened a bit. See full story.

Strong investor sentiment lifted leading indexes in Australia by 2%, Shanghai by 2.6% and Singapore by 3.1%. Shares in Malaysia and New Zealand both gained 0.8%, while Taiwan's Taiex added 2.3%.

The mainland's largest offshore oil producer CNOOC jumped 6.3% to HK$5.90 on expected benefits from a major deepwater gas discovery in the South China Sea roughly 250 kilometers from Hong Kong. Brokerage Goldman Sachs raised its rating on CNOOC to outperform from in line, boosting its price target to HK$6.60, saying the gas find pointed to additional mineral wealth in the area.

"I expect choppy trade next week. There is no clear indication that we are into an uptrend again, or that the downtrend will resume," said Steve Kelsey, a technical analyst and director of sales at Interactive Brokers in Hong Kong. "Markets don't tend to reverse that quickly, they need time to consolidate."

In currencies, the dollar was quoted at 114.61 yen, little changed from its level of 114.70 in late New York trading Thursday. In Asian trading, the July crude oil contract rose 62 cents to $70.12 a barrel.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.